


Home for Christmas

by ColorMeParanoid



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Christmas, Evan "Buck" Buckley Has Bad Parents, Evan "Buck" Buckley Needs A Hug, First Kiss, Fluff, Getting Together, Holidays, Insecure Evan "Buck" Buckley, Light Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:28:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28245429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ColorMeParanoid/pseuds/ColorMeParanoid
Summary: Eddie had been against Buck covering his shift for Christmas ever since the day they found out about the holiday schedule. No matter how much Buck pleaded, he would not relent, saying how Buck had the right to relax for a change. He'd nearly scoffed at the words. What did he have to do for Christmas all on his own? He'd just sit alone in his apartment and collect dust until it was time to go join the other members of the Diaz family for dinner. And even there, he'd just be a constant reminder of Eddie's absence, a poor substitute for the person they actually wanted there.But if there was something Buck could do to make it all better, he damn well would. Even if it meant owing Bobby a giant favor as a result.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Comments: 24
Kudos: 363





	Home for Christmas

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Holidays everyone!

The devastation on Christopher’s face when Eddie told him he had to work Christmas the previous year was still painfully seared into Eddie's memory.

Eddie knew exactly what he was signing up for when he decided to become a firefighter, but Christopher definitely did not. He was such a sensible and easy kid most of the time and Eddie was so lucky to have him, but he was still just that – a kid. He didn't understand why Eddie had to work over the holidays and he wasn't willing to listen to reason. And Eddie hated disappointing him more than anything in the world. It was what he'd done over and over again with every holiday and every birthday he'd missed while he was away in the war and now here he was, doing the same thing when he promised himself he'd never do it again.

But it couldn't be helped. While last year Buck managed to pull off a Christmas miracle and get them all together to celebrate, this year everyone had their own thing going on.

Chim and Maddie wanted to spend their first Christmas with their daughter together, Hen and Karen had Nia now and they were going all out to give her the best holiday experience ever. Athena and Bobby were clinging onto May while she was still at home for the holidays and rumor had it that Michael was bringing his doctor boyfriend as well to finally meet the whole family. It was going to be an intimate family celebration instead of a big event like it usually was. They were saving that for New Years.

Dividing vacation days when it came to holidays was always a whole ordeal and Eddie, as still technically the newest member of the 118, didn't have the seniority that the rest had so sometimes he just had to suck it up and deal with it. Even if that meant working two Christmases in a row.

He just had to figure out a way to break the news to his son. 

Eddie was free on Christmas Eve, though, and he already planned it all out in his head, how to celebrate early and make it extra special to make up for his absence on the day of. Abuela had already offered to have Chris over at her place where they would celebrate together, face timing his family from Texas but even then he knew that it wouldn't be enough.

Back in Texas, Christmas was always a huge deal. All of his siblings would come visit their parents and it was a giant family affair that Chris absolutely adored and it was one time of the year where Eddie truly regretted leaving. Chris loved family gatherings and getting to see all his cousins and all of his aunts who spoiled him rotten with a ridiculous number of presents.

But Chris didn't want presents; he wanted his dad to be there with him. It was particularly important now that Shannon was gone. 

Buck had immediately offered to switch shifts with Eddie when he got the holiday off unprompted but Eddie wouldn't let him. Buck always jumped in to work the holidays so the rest of them could get the day off and spend them with their families, as if he was somehow less important than the rest of them just because he wasn't married or had a kid. And Eddie had made it his personal mission to show Buck just how valued he was. 

But, even though Eddie said no, Buck still had to be his usual self-sacrificing self and offered to switch with someone else.

"They need it more than I do, Eddie," Buck had insisted and Eddie had to bite his tongue before he said something he'd regret. It was too late to change anything at this point, anyway. Buck had made up his mind already and Eddie would just have to accept it.

He was hoping Buck would be willing to attend the annual dinner at Abuela’s so Chris would at least have one of them there, but he wouldn’t complain about having Buck by his side working what always felt like the longest shift of the year. Time always passed quickly when they were together.

If he got lucky, he might just make it back home before midnight and catch his son before he went to bed. Hopefully, he’d manage to drag Buck with him too and have him spend the night in a family sleepover that would hopefully take off some of the sting from what was bound to be Christopher’s foul mood. He could never stay mad for long when Buck came for a visit.

With everything already arranged, Eddie was surprised when just a week before Christmas, Bobby pulled him aside and asked him if he'd be willing to switch to working the New Year's instead.

"Jones is planning on proposing to his girlfriend when the clock strikes midnight," Bobby explained, looking fondly exasperated. "Between the two of us, I think he was aiming to do it at Christmas but he chickened out and wants to switch, if anyone is willing. I figured you might be interested."

"Of course," Eddie had immediately agreed, not even questioning it because it was perfect, even if he had no idea that Jones even had a girlfriend, let alone one serious enough to marry. All he could think about was his son. He couldn't believe that it had all worked out all on its own. Now he didn't need to tell Chris the bad news and they could spend the holidays together. "Are you sure?"

Bobby chuckled and looked at him as if he knew something he didn't. "Merry Christmas, Eddie."

It was a Christmas miracle if he'd ever seen one.

The only drawback of this was that now Buck would be stuck at work most of the day and not with Eddie. He shouldn't be this upset at not getting to spend the holidays with his best friend, because they spent literally every other day of the year together but. Feelings weren't exactly rational. And it was about time Eddie stopped pretending that he and Buck were just very close friends when they were so much more. And after everything they’ve been through together, what was the point of denying it any longer? He was only lying to himself.

With some effort and a hell of a lot of blind faith, Eddie thought, maybe he could pull off a Christmas miracle all on his own this year.

*

By the time Buck dragged himself back home from work, it was long past midnight. He should have been home hours ago, but they had a giant housefire sparked by faulty wiring and a very flammable Christmas tree come in last minute and it took forever to put it out.

He was beyond exhausted and starving as he struggled to fit his key into the lock and open his door. If his stomach wasn't growling something fierce, he would have immediately thrown himself into bed.

When he stepped inside, though, he froze right at the entrance and blinked rapidly, trying to figure out if he'd been hit on the head without realizing because his apartment did not look like this when he left it.

He barely spent any time in his apartment, what’s with his busy job and hanging out at the Diaz house so he didn't even bother trying to decorate it. If he was being honest, the thought of going through all that trouble to be the only one who see it was a bit too depressing for him to deal with, so he'd decided to just ignore all the holiday cheer for this year.

He had no one to spend it with, anyway. Sure, his teammates always invited him to everything but he knew they were doing it just to be nice. He hated always feeling like the odd man out at all the family gatherings, the only one who was always single and childless when he wanted nothing more than to be just like them.

But now, there was a tiny little Christmas tree perched on his kitchen counter, and colorful fairy lights were hanging from the loft and bathing the dark room in a myriad of colors. Sparkly garlands were wrapped around the banister leading up to the loft and the entire apartment smelled like Christmas, a blend of cinnamon and peppermint and pine. 

"You know," a voice said lowly, startling him from his shock and he turned to find Eddie sitting on his couch, a Christopher shaped lump curled up under the blanket next to him. "Bobby told me something interesting today. Said to consider it as his Christmas gift this year."

Buck couldn't help but roll his eyes at that and closed and locked the door behind him before he made his way inside. Bobby had been exasperated when Buck came to him and asked him to lie to Eddie. The only reason he didn't think to ask him to promise to keep it a secret was because he figured that was common sense. Apparently not.

Buck should be lucky he waited this long to tell him in the first place, really, considering he'd barely gotten Bobby to play along at all.

Eddie had been against him covering his shift for Christmas ever since the day they found out about the holiday schedule. No matter how much Buck pleaded, he would not relent, saying how Buck had the right to relax for a change. He'd nearly scoffed at the words. What did he have to do for Christmas all on his own? He'd just sit alone in his apartment and collect dust until it was time to go join the other members of the Diaz family for dinner. And even there, he'd just be a constant reminder of Eddie's absence, a poor substitute for the person they actually wanted there.

Besides, he couldn't stand to see the disappointment on Christopher's face again. Because it reminded him of the days where he was still a kid himself and his parents left him and Maddie home with a sitter while they went to attend some lavish Christmas parties at the houses of their rich friends. He'd always been a troublemaker, they'd say. They couldn't have him running around and breaking something valuable. Them staying home and for once acting like a proper family would have meant so much more than the gifts they threw at him to keep him quiet, because complaining about anything meant that he was ungrateful and that made him feel guilty for wanting it in the first place.

The point was, Buck knew what it was like wanting to spend the holidays with your family and them not being there. Obviously, Eddie was nothing like his parents, a caring and wonderful dad who was kicking himself over not being able to be there due to his job.

But if there was something Buck could do to make it all better, he damn well would. Even if it meant owing Bobby a giant favor as a result.

Buck took off his jacket and leaned against his armchair because he was worried that as soon as he got into a seated position, he wouldn't be able to get up again.

"Oh?"

Eddie looked down at Christopher who was sound asleep on the couch as the TV played softly in the background and nodded his head in the direction of the kitchen. Buck followed him there, taking a seat at the counter as Eddie went about pouring them both a mug of something from a thermos.

Mulled wine, Buck realized he took a sip. His favorite holiday treat.

"Yeah." Buck watched as Eddie moved confidently through his kitchen as he sipped from the cup, pulling out a plate and taking out a truly astounding amount of Tupperware from his fridge. "Apparently you were never scheduled to work Christmas, never switched your shifts with anyone else. You just pretended to be working the shift so you could jump in at the last moment and give the day off to me." He put the plate of food into the microwave and slammed it shut a little too hard, wincing as it made Chris stir on the couch but thankfully, he didn't wake up. "Why would you do that?"

Buck shrugged, gaze focused on the dark liquid sloshing around his mug. "Because I knew you wouldn't let me cover for you otherwise."

"Of course I wouldn't have," Eddie said, frowning. "Buck, you deserve to enjoy the holidays, too, as I keep telling you. It's not fair to you to always be working instead of spending time off with friends and family."

Buck scoffed. "What family? Maddie has Chimney now and they have a daughter. I'm sure they'd like to spend some alone time with her without me hanging around there all day." He looked up at Eddie then, all but pleading him with his eyes to let it go. "Everyone has someone, Eddie. All I have is an empty apartment. Might as well step in and help out when I can."

The microwave beeped, announcing the food was ready but Eddie ignored it. "You have a family, Buck. You know you're always welcome at our house."

"Well maybe I don't want to be your charity case anymore," Buck finally snapped and Eddie stepped back as if the words have been a physical blow. "Sure, I love coming over and spending time with you guys, but don't act like it's forever when we both know it's not. You won't be so eager to have you best friend over all the time once you get back out there and get married again. You'll be the perfect little family and I'll be left behind, again."

That had always been the inevitable conclusion. In the end, everyone left.

Well. He wasn't expecting to have this conversation tonight – or ever, really – but he was tired and he was hungry and he was not in the mood to argue with Eddie. Just for one night, he wanted to pretend that this was real. That he came home from work to find his family waiting for him to celebrate the holidays together. That was all he ever wanted.

Maddie had tried her best to cheer him up, back when they were still young and he still cared, but then she left and never came back and Buck stopped trying. He got hopeful again when she returned, but after everything, Maddie wasn't exactly keen on celebrating Christmas and he couldn't blame her. Sure, Eddie invited him over and it was always great but the fact that this was all temporary always put a damper on his mood. Even when he spent the night, he'd still have to eventually come back to his cold and empty apartment, a jarring feeling once he left the warmth and the constant noise of Eddie's house.

Letting himself believe Eddie that he'd always be welcomed back was only going to hurt him in the end.

"You're not a charity case, Buck," Eddie said quietly and Buck could hear him as he moved closer, but he kept his gaze firmly on the warm cup cradled between his palms. "You _are_ my family. I'm closer to you than I am with my actual blood relatives and that's not just because of the distance between Texas and LA." He sighed. "Buck. _Evan_. Would you please look at me?"

How could he not, when Eddie asked him so nicely? He looked up and found that Eddie was standing far closer to him than he thought, though still too far away for his liking. He was always just out of his reach.

"You're so much more than just my best friend," Eddie said. "You're- you're _everything_."

Buck shook his head, mind refusing to believe him. "You're just saying that."

But Eddie didn't back away this time, didn't even try to argue. Instead, he picked up one of the wrapped packages from under the tree that Buck had barely registered and handed it to him. Buck hesitantly peeled away the colorful cellophane to reveal a dinosaur shaped shortbread cookie, decorated with shaky lines of icing in all the colors of the rainbow. It said a lot that he immediately recognized the art style as Christopher’s. The two of them had been really into dinosaurs lately.

"He and Abuela made cookies together and he decorated this one specifically for you."

Buck pulled out the card that was used as the placeholder for the cookie and gently flipped it open. FOR MY BUCK it said, right under the drawing of what he could only assume were the three of them, standing beside a giant Christmas tree.

"He wanted to give it to you himself," Eddie continued, like he hadn't just shifted his entire world off its axis, "but he crashed as soon as I got him settled onto the couch and I think you really needed to see it now."

While Buck was still processing all of this, Eddie walked to the microwave and pulled out the plate and placed it in front of him. It looked and smelled absolutely delicious and far better than any takeaway he planned on ordering tonight.

"Abuela sends her best wishes," Eddie explained with a wry smile. "There's plenty of where that came from, by the way. You'll be eating leftovers for the rest of the year."

Buck laughed, but it came out as shaky and brittle. "Thank her for me."

Eddie shook his head, a smile twitching at his lips. "Oh no. She said she's expecting you over for a family lunch soon so she can see you in person. You know, to make sure you're eating well and not wasting away to nothing."

The casually said statement had him blinking away tears. Eddie said it like this was so obvious, that of course his best friend’s grandmother wanted to check up on him. It felt like an important milestone, if any romance centric media was to be believed. Maybe he really _was_ family and he didn't even realize it until Eddie basically slapped him over the head with the unquestionable evidence.

He looked back down at the drawing and studied it with new eyes, tracing the lines of it with careful fingers before he finally gathered the courage to meet Eddie’s eyes. He rested his hand palm up on the counter and watched as Eddie placed his hand on top of it.

“Maybe next year,” Buck hesitantly said, still waiting for the other shoe to drop, “we could get a ridiculously giant tree that will be a major pain in the ass to deal with but will make Christopher’s whole year?”

Maybe it was too presumptuous to ask, already making plans a year away but Eddie only smiled and squeezed his hand.

“I think we can make that happen,” Eddie said. "Anything you want, Buck." 

“I just want you,” Buck admitted aloud for the very first time. “You and Chris. That’s all I need.”

“You have us." Eddie raised his hand up and brought it to his lips, kissing his knuckles. “You’ve always had us. It just took you a while to see it.”

After that, it was easy to lean in and Eddie didn't hesitate for a second to bring their lips together, sighing contentedly into their kiss.

"Merry Christmas, Buck," Eddie murmured against his lips.

"Merry Christmas," Buck responded before he dived in for another kiss, suddenly insatiable for this man who went out of his way to give him the best holiday ever. Buck could stay here forever, kissing Eddie and he thought that Eddie might just let him. Unfortunately, his stomach had other plans in mind. It growled loudly in the silence of his apartment and Eddie pulled away with a muffled laugh despite Buck’s protest.

Eddie pushed the plate in front of Buck. “Eat. You must be starving. Chris and I will be right here when you’re done.”

With a final peck on the lips, Eddie moved to the couch, curling up next to his son and Buck hurried to eat so he could join them. When he was done, he poured them both a mug of leftover mulled wine and brought them along with him, fiddling with them as he tried to figure out where to fit in. He had a big couch, sure, but two large men and a kid were still a bit much. There was the armchair but that was far too away from the two of his favorite people, especially when they both looked so cozy.

Finally, Eddie rolled his eyes and pointedly lifted up the corner of the throw blanket. With a grin, Buck set the cups down and joined them, gingerly picking out a spot next to Eddie and carefully folding his long limbs onto the sparse space left of his couch. He didn't want to come off as too eager but when Eddie wrapped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him closer into his side, what was Buck supposed to do? Not absolutely melt all over him?

He sighed, feeling more content than he remembered being in a long, long time. With his stomach full, Eddie's fingers running through his hair, surrounded by the warmth of him, he felt like he was finally home.

This truly was the best Christmas he ever could have wished for.


End file.
